cliffcoggin

I can't help with testing the ECU, but I can you tell that failure of the instrument cluster is a well known, though uncommon, problem on the A3. I suggest you send the clocks away for testing as a first step.

After four years since posing his question I doubt Daniel is reading this forum any more.

If your garage is only repeating the pressure test it did a few weeks earlier, and which failed to reveal a leak, it seems it has run out of ideas. Time to take the car elsewhere. Did you or the garage investigate the possibility of an air lock that I mentioned three weeks ago?

A few drops is a few drops too many, there should be none. That points to the EGR leaking its cooling water into the engine. As far as I know the only test is to remove the EGR and examine it. What concerns me about the EGR diagnosis is that the oil has not become milky or emulsified, which is what I would expect if a couple of litres of water had mixed with it.

Gemma. Am I right in assuming there is no sign of damage to the doors etc? If so, your car has not been broken into; it has been entered by the normal method of simply opening an unlocked door. Two possibilities occur to me: [1] Somebody else has a key to it. Do you still have the spare key that came with the car originally? Could the previous owner have had a duplicate key made as a result of losing the spare which has found its way into another persons hands? [2] One of the doors or the boot is not locking when set. Have you checked that they all lock when you turn the key? It is not unknown for the lock mechanism to fail on one door while the others work normally. That can be caused by a broken wire or a faulty lock. I can imagine that the alarm was fed by the same electrical supply as the Sony and maybe that is the cause of the problem, but that is entirely a guess on my part.

It wouldn't be the first time the EGR has been the cause of water loss, though I am surprised the pressure did not reveal it.

Thanks for letting us know. It just goes to show you can not take all your error codes at face value.

1. Oil level sensor cost? Ask Audi or the motor factor of your choice. Perhaps even Google it. 2. I cannot help with this point. I suggest you get a proper diagnosis. 3. Ensure that: tyre pressures are correct, tyres are evenly worn and the same type, the tracking is correct, there is no wear or looseness in the steering and suspension joints, and the front wheel bearings are not worn. All those factors can lead to vague or biased steering. 4. There should be no stink of fuel no matter what has been done to the engine. Is the fuel leaking somewhere or is it in the exhaust gas? Do you have full service history for the car?

Does it have automatic transmission? Some VAG cars have a system that shifts down a gear or two if it detects that speed is increasing while the brake pedal is being depressed. It's a way of providing engine braking. The wheel wobble is most likely the wheels have not been balanced, though it could also be caused by a loose or worn joint (including rubber bushes,) in the suspension or steering.

Your pressure test is fine so no obvious answer presents itself. Have you opened the cooling system recently? Is the heater working? I am wondering if you could have introduced an air lock which, because of its expansion when heated, can cause water to be expelled from the reservoir. Air locks can be stubborn to get rid of.

The A3 is prone to wiring damage in the rubber bellows between door and frame.

The water can not evaporate if the system is properly sealed. Nor can it strictly burn, though of course it may leak into the cylinders or air intake and be expelled into the exhaust. Either way the loss should be detected by a pressure test of the cooling system which you said "seems" to be OK. What pressure was the test done at, and how long did it hold pressure? What is the general condition of the engine and has it been correctly serviced? How many miles has it done? Was the water pump renewed when the cambelt was changed?

Please let us know the outcome as Paul seems reluctant to accept any suspicions regarding his battery.

Is the carpet in the footwell wet? Does the car interior mist up excessively?

When a series of apparently unrelated electrical faults appear simultaneously my first suspect is always the battery. It does not matter if the static voltage is fine, it does not matter if the starter can crank the engine over normally, it can still have a fault that interferes with the car's electronics. Sorry, but too I will not download links from unknown sources. Can you attach the file to a reply?

Given that you admit to being "not mechanically minded" I suggest you get a specialist to do it for you. Tinkering with a car's suspension without knowing what you are doing is not going to end well.

Juan. If you don't have an OBD code reader you will need to take the car to somebody who has, or an Audi dealer, or an auto electrician. That reader will give a list of error codes which will need careful interpretation because many will be a consequence of the primary fault.

Juan. You really need to get the electronics tested. There is clearly a short circuit or some other fault that is draining the battery, but the information obtained simply by removing fuses is not going to provide a definitive answer.

I doubt that anybody can help unless you give a lot more detail, such as amplifier make & model, and which wires you connected to which terminals, and what radio you are connecting them to.

The wheel sensor wiring is close to the track rod ends.

I wonder if the wiring was damaged by an over zealous mechanic when the tracking was adjusted.

Even if it is possible to renew just the motor, you would still have the possible problems of damaged gears and leaky seals. Better to renew the whole unit.

Get the garage to do a deep discharge test of the battery when you take it in. An old battery can cause the power loss you mention by putting the car into limp mode.

That's about the going rate for a repair from what I have read. Will those companies test for a smaller fee? Will they refund the repair cost if it does not fix the fault?

Congratulations. Count yourself lucky no engine valves or pistons were damaged.